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Porting the FlexVSP COM driver to Win 11 ARM

snacey0103
snacey0103 Member ✭✭
in New Ideas

@Mike va3mw

Any chance that Flexradio is working on a Win 11 ARM compatible driver that would work on MacOS Parallels anytime soon? I really need this to allow use of Win 11 CAT and DAX to enable me to run the huge variety of x86-based Ham applications on my M1 Mac. I am meeting more and more HAMs that want an answer to this issue - and to enable them to get away from Intel/Win10-11.

It seems that an Win 11 ARM-compatible FlexVSP COM driver is what is needed. SmartSDR x86 itself comes right up and runs fine on an M1 Mac, Parallels v19.2.1, Win 11 ARM VM.

BTW - I love hearing you chat on Ham Radio Workbench every couple weeks. Keep it up. I may also give you a call on the FlexRadio customer line!

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Comments

  • JasonSt
    JasonSt Member ✭✭
    Thanks for asking this. I have this same question.

    Thanks,

    Jason KD9ZHF
  • Mike-VA3MW
    Mike-VA3MW Administrator, FlexRadio Employee, Community Manager, Super Elmer, Moderator admin

    @snacey0103

    At this time, not at all due to other priorities in both the commercial and amateur world. About the only thing that would push it would be something on the commercial/government side that would fund the development.

    And, thanks for the kind words. We have a lot of fun!

  • KM6MZM
    KM6MZM Member, Unconfirmed ✭✭

    +1 to this request, Im using a ARM based mac with Windows ARM VM but now that as of June '24 snapdragon processor based laptops are available at retail stores, more and more Hams will be asking for this (they just dont know that the new windows machine they bought wont run DAX/CAT due to the VSP driver)

    I would say its maybe a year before IT departments start to hand these out to staff in corp world

  • Birton_N6UG
    Birton_N6UG Member ✭✭

    +1 to this request.

  • WW4GA
    WW4GA Member ✭✭

    +1 to this request

  • Tilio
    Tilio Member ✭✭

    +1 to this request

  • Arizona Mike
    Arizona Mike Member ✭✭

    +1 for this request.

    In fact, three friends who have placed orders are not upset that the software will npt run on their Macbook Pro M3's.

  • Tom - N3VM
    Tom - N3VM Member ✭✭

    +1 for this request.

  • snacey0103
    snacey0103 Member ✭✭

    @Mike va3mw

    Any updates on this request now that the 8000 series and government products are "done" (is anything ever done?) and shipping? This would make some cool things possible between Win 11 and MacOS on our M-Series Macs!

    73 de Scott, KK6IK

  • Mike-VA3MW
    Mike-VA3MW Administrator, FlexRadio Employee, Community Manager, Super Elmer, Moderator admin

    Nothing that I can share at the moment.

  • snacey0103
    snacey0103 Member ✭✭

    Bummer. I'd love to get something like CW skimmer working on my M1-based Mac.

    Sigh.

    Thanks for the reply Mike.

  • W7GES
    W7GES Member ✭
    +1 Need the VSP Driver for my Lenovo ThinkPad w/Snapdragon processor
  • snacey0103
    snacey0103 Member ✭✭
    edited December 2024

    @Mike va3mw Flex guys, this issue is starting to become critical for more people than just us MacOS ARM Win 11 users. I am starting to see Windows 11 native ARM version users complaining about the ARM driver not working for new Flex-8000 customers. With the coming demise of Windows 10, when will Flex fix this issue? All we need is a Windows 11 ARM-compatible FlexVSP COM driver. I would be pleased to even Alpha test this to get things going.

  • Ben KN4RFT
    Ben KN4RFT Member, Unconfirmed ✭
    I bought a new Microsoft Surface Pro 11 on Black Friday specifically to use SmartSDR only to learn SmartSDR does not have driver support for Windows 11 ARM. When will Flex provide driver support for the newer generation of a Windows tablets and laptops?

    Will Flex be making any acknowledgement that SmartSDR lacks driver support for Win 11 ARM on the SmartSDR Windows web page until support is provided?

    I would also be happy to Alpha test so the tablet would not be useless for radio.
  • Mike-VA3MW
    Mike-VA3MW Administrator, FlexRadio Employee, Community Manager, Super Elmer, Moderator admin

    Thanks for this. Moving the DAX drivers to ARM isn't trivial at all and requires significant time investment.

    Engineering is aware of it and currently investigating how many man hours this would take.

  • Mark Davis
    Mark Davis Member ✭✭

    Please add me to the list of Flex users looking for an Win 11 ARM-compatible FlexVSP driver.

    Mark Davis - AD7EF

  • Roger
    Roger Member ✭✭

    I'm here after the SSDR installer told it would only run on an x86 machine, which given SSDR appears to be running on .NET 4.6.2 I'm not shocked, however I thought is was worth a try.

    I asked the all-knowing Google "can Hyper-V on ARM64 support an x86 application" and it came back with "Yes, Hyper-V on ARM64 can support x86 applications through emulation", however I'm not totally sure I believe the AI. By chance has anyone tried this, so I don't waste time?

  • ky4ub
    ky4ub Member ✭✭
    Please add me to the list of Flex users looking for an Win 11 ARM-compatible FlexVSP driver.
  • Michael N3LI
    Michael N3LI Member ✭✭

    Me too - ARM is not a one off architecture, and increasing numbers of people are purchasing ARM machines. Not Knowing SSDR won't work on them.

  • Michael N3LI
    Michael N3LI Member ✭✭

    Sorry to post twice - this is a windows critical issue, not just MacOS/Parallels.

  • guefi
    guefi Member ✭
    DJ9OQ/SA6GFI I have the same problem with my surface pro11!
    A new Win 11 ARM-compatible FlexVSP driver is the solution...
  • Martin Boroff
    Martin Boroff Member ✭✭

    I take it this isn't just a recompile. Perhaps Microsoft does not provide the tools to create the drivers for ARM 64. Maybe we need more Microsoft engineers to own Flex radios. The other PC makers need to come out with more PCs base on ARM so that market share drives this forward. I noticed that most of the responders are looking to run on MacOS with M processors. I have been holding off myself and running as much as I can on MacOS.

  • K0VIK
    K0VIK Member ✭
    Another faithful user who just traded in my 6600 for the 8600. Please create the Windows 11 ARM drivers! K0VIK
  • ky4ub
    ky4ub Member ✭✭

    This nagging problem has been around for a long time and it is similar to the problems I've found with the Maestro. I don't understand why there isn't a more uniform deployment strategy for Flex SW products - I have the latest and greatest Maestro but still can't control the Antenna Genius, Tuner Genius, Power Genius from the Maestro so I have to have an additional device just to run them. I like many others on this thread have Parallels on my Mac so that I can run 3rd party windows apps for HAM radio with SSDR for windows but still can't run most of the 3rd party apps because I can't run the DAX app. Has anyone on this list been able to use third party audio kits to replace the DAX app?

  • Ben KN4RFT
    Ben KN4RFT Member, Unconfirmed ✭
    Has the lack of drivers for ARM processors received any more attention from Flex now that the 8000 series radios are shipping and Aurora has been announced?
  • Parker
    Parker Member ✭

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  • JamesW7EY
    JamesW7EY Member ✭✭

    How is this not a priority for Flex? You can't buy a new laptop from Microsoft that isn't ARM. How did Flex not see this coming? So now I'm looking at buying older Microsoft laptops with Intel chips because of one vendor that has been ignoring customers asking for this since at least 2020.

  • G3YSX
    G3YSX Member, Unconfirmed ✭
    I too am disappointed that I can no longer run SmartSDR on my Mac now I have moved to Mac Silicon. However fact that when I look at buying a new laptop a lot use snapdragon is more worrying. Many people will not be aware of the issue after all Windows is Windows particularly if it run on Microsoft hardware.

    If Flex are unable to fix this, the only honest thing for Flex to do is to label their windows package as Intel architecture only.
  • brianbruff
    brianbruff Member ✭✭

    spent the past week messing around and ended up porting as much of FlexLib to .NET 9 as I reasonably could. I built a VITA-49 handler, a web app, and a cross-platform desktop client. I always knew it was doable since Marcus’ work doesn’t rely on Windows-only assemblies—and to be honest, AI takes a lot of the grunt work out of the porting process.

    Right now I can TX/RX directly from a web browser, and the server runs on macOS, Windows, and Linux. I’ve got it running on my M4 MacBooks with no issue. The UI is still pretty ugly, and I haven’t yet found a good cross-platform panadapter/waterfall solution. I looked into display.cs from Thetis, but since it uses DirectX it’s Windows-only, so that’s a dead end for my stack.

    I might open-source it—still deciding whether I want to put more time into it or let it sit. And to be honest, I’m not exactly enamoured with the official Flex interface anyway. I crash the radio far too often for comfort… it really needs to be babied.

    Just to be clear: I’m not looking for testers at this stage

  • Mike-VA3MW
    Mike-VA3MW Administrator, FlexRadio Employee, Community Manager, Super Elmer, Moderator admin

    Nice work. Is the plan to build a Web to FlexRadio GUI?

    Mike

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